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September 22, 2011 – 1:25 am | by Chloe Gatenby
CHICAGO (Reuters) – As Boeing Co executives and workers toast the first delivery of the revolutionary 787 Dreamliner on Sunday, the next enormous hurdle must weigh heavily on their minds: they have to make about 800 more.
The company has 821 orders for the lightweight carbon-composite aircraft on its books, a record number for a Boeing plane still in development.
The airplane, which owes its popularity to promises of unprecedented fuel savings and passenger comfort, however, is three years behind its original development schedule and by some estimates tens of billions of dollars over budget.
Boeing, which competes for airplane orders with EADS unit Airbus, gets paid for its planes when it delivers them. So the sooner the company can get orders filled, the sooner it can start earning a return on its investment.
The Dreamliner lists for about $200 million, but actual sales prices are normally lower than list prices.
“The break-even point on the aircraft is a big bone of contention,” said Alex Hamilton, managing director of EarlyBirdCapital.
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Tags: 787, 787 Delivered
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